Air compressor having stabilized structure

ABSTRACT

An air compressor includes a supporting base having a plate, a cylinder housing attached to the plate and having a chamber and an outlet tube communicating with the chamber of the cylinder housing for receiving pressurized air from the cylinder housing. A piston is slidably received in the cylinder housing, a gear is rotatably attached to the plate and includes an eccentric pin coupled to a piston rod to move the piston relative to the cylinder housing, and the gear is extended into a range of the cylinder housing for decreasing a distance between the gear and the piston rod and to facilitate a movement of the piston relative to the cylinder housing, and to prevent vibrations from being generated by the piston.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an air compressor, and more particularly to an air compressor having a stabilized structure for allowing the piston and the gearing mechanism to be effectively rotated or driven by the motor and for preventing vibrations from being generated by the piston and the piston rod.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Typical air compressors comprise a cylinder housing attached or secured to a base and having a piston slidably disposed therein, and a motor secured to the base and coupled to the piston of the cylinder housing for actuating or driving the piston of the cylinder housing in a reciprocating action.

The applicant has developed various kinds of typical air compressors, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,112 to Chou, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,077 to Chou each of which also comprises a piston slidably disposed within a cylinder housing, and a motor secured to the base and coupled to the piston of the cylinder housing directly or indirectly via a gearing mechanism and/or an eccentric member for actuating or driving the piston of the cylinder housing in a reciprocating action, and for pumping or controlling the air to flow into and out of the cylinder housing.

Normally, for preventing the movement or the operation of the piston from being interfered, the spindle of the motor and the gearing mechanism and/or the eccentric member are required to be located and extended out of the range or the scope of the cylinder housing.

However, the increasing of the distance between the gearing mechanism and/or the eccentric member and the piston may increase the vibrations of the piston and/or the eccentric member relative to the gearing mechanism and the spindle of the motor after use, and great noise may thus be generated, and the working life of the conventional air compressors may be greatly decreased.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional air compressors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an air compressor including a stabilized structure for allowing the piston and the gearing mechanism to be effectively rotated or driven by the motor and for preventing vibrations from being generated by the piston and the piston rod.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an air compressor comprising a supporting base including a plate, a cylinder housing attached to the plate and including a chamber formed therein, and including an outlet tube communicating with the chamber of the cylinder housing for receiving pressurized air from the chamber of the cylinder housing, a piston slidably received in the chamber of the cylinder housing and having a piston rod extended therefrom, a gear rotatably attached to the plate, and including an eccentric pin coupled to the piston rod, to move the piston relative to the cylinder housing, and the gear being extended into a range of the cylinder housing for decreasing a distance between the gear and the piston rod and to facilitate a reciprocating movement of the piston relative to the cylinder housing, and to prevent vibrations from being generated by the piston, and a motor attached to the plate and having a spindle extended through the plate and coupled to the gear for rotating the gear to move the piston relative to the cylinder housing in the reciprocating action, in order to generate pressurized air.

An eccentric member is attached to the gear, and the eccentric pin is extended from the eccentric member. The plate includes a space formed by a peripheral casing to receive the eccentric member.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air compressor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side plan schematic view of the air compressor;

FIG. 3 is a partial exploded view of the air compressor;

FIG. 4 is a side plan schematic view illustrating a supporting base for the air compressor; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan schematic view illustrating the supporting base for the air compressor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-3, an air compressor 1 in accordance with the present invention comprises a supporting base 10 including a plate 11 and a cylinder housing 12 provided on or extended from the plate 11 and preferably formed integral with the plate 11, or secured or coupled to the plate 11 with such as latches or fasteners (not shown), adhesive materials, or by welding processes. The cylinder housing 12 includes a chamber 13 formed therein (FIG. 3) and having an inner radius “r” or an inner diameter “d” (FIG. 5) for slidably receiving a piston 30 therein, and includes one or more fins 14 extended laterally or radially outwardly therefrom for such as heat dissipating purposes.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cylinder housing 12 may include a suitable or predetermined thickness such that the cylinder housing 12 may include an outer diameter or an outer range of the outer diameter “R”. The piston 30 includes an extension or piston rod 31 extended therefrom and slidable in reciprocating action in the chamber 13 of the cylinder housing 12 for generating pressurized air. The piston 30 preferably includes a sealing ring 32 attached to the outer peripheral portion thereof and slidably engaged with the cylinder housing 12, for making an air tight seal between the piston 30 and the cylinder housing 12.

The cylinder housing 12 includes an outlet tube 15 extended upwardly or outwardly from the top thereof and communicating with the chamber 13 of the cylinder housing 12, for receiving the pressurized air from the chamber 13 of the cylinder housing 12. A spring-biased check valve (not shown) may be disposed in the outlet tube 15, and engaged with a valve seat (not shown) that is formed or provided between the outlet tube 15 and the cylinder housing 12. A relief valve or safety valve (not shown) or the like may further be provided and attached to the outlet tube 15, for relieving the pressurized air when the air pressure within the cylinder housing 12 and the outlet tube 15.

The typical spring-biased check valve (not shown) may be used to limit the pressurized air to flow from the chamber 13 of the cylinder housing 12 into the outlet tube 15 only, and to prevent the pressurized air from flowing backwardly from the outlet tube 15 into the chamber 13 of the cylinder housing 12. A cap (not shown) may be attached to the outer or free end of the outlet tube 15 with such as threading engagements, for blocking or enclosing the outlet tube 15, and for stably retaining the spring-biased check valve within the compartment 16 of the outlet tube 15.

A gear 40 is rotatably attached to the lower portion of the plate 11 with one or more bearings 16 and a shaft 41, and includes a space 43 formed therein and defined by a peripheral casing 44 for receiving and securing an eccentric member 45 therein (FIGS. 1-3). The eccentric member 45 may be secured to the gear 40 with such as fasteners (not shown) and may thus be rotated in concert with the gear 40, and includes a crank or an eccentric pin 47 extended therefrom and coupled to the piston rod 31 of the piston 30, in order to actuate or to move the piston 30 relative to the cylinder housing 12 in reciprocating actions.

A moving means or a motor 50 may be attached or secured to the upper portion of the plate 11 with such as fasteners (not shown), and includes a spindle 52 extended through the plate 11, and includes a pinion 53 secured to the spindle 52 thereof, and engaged with the gear 40, for allowing the gear 40 to be rotated or driven by the motor 50 via the pinion 53, and thus for allowing the piston 30 to be actuated or moved relative to the cylinder housing 12 in reciprocating actions by the eccentric member 45 and the eccentric pin 47. A fan device (not shown) may further be provided and coupled to the motor 50 for being rotated or driven by the motor 50 to generate circulating or ventilating air.

In operation, as shown in FIGS. 1-2, the piston 30 may be actuated or moved relative to the cylinder housing 12 in reciprocating actions by the motor 50 via pinion 53, the gear 40, the eccentric member 45 and the eccentric pin 47, in order to generate a pressurized air, and to allow the pressurized air to flow into the outlet tube 15, and then to flow out through the outlet tube 15, and thus to allow the air pressure within the cylinder housing 12 and/or the outlet tube 15 to be detected and shown by a pressure gauge (not shown), and to allow the pressurized air to be supplied into the facilities that require pressurized air supplied thereto, with such as nozzle (not shown), and/or to allow the pressurized air to be relieved via the relief valve (not shown) when the cylinder housing 12 and/or the outlet tube 15 is over-pressurized.

As shown in FIG. 4, the distance “D” between the plate 11 and the cylinder housing 12 is preferably decreased or shorter than that for the typical air compressors, and/or as shown in FIG. 5, the distance “W” between the center “X” of the cylinder housing 12 and the gear 40 is preferably decreased or shorter than that for the typical air compressors or shorter than the outer radius or the inner radius “r” of the cylinder housing 12, and/or as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the gear 40 is partially extended into the scope or the range of the outer diameter “R” and/or the range of the inner diameter “d” of the cylinder housing 12 and the eccentric member 45 will also be extended into or located within the scope or the range of the outer diameter “R” of the cylinder housing 12, for decreasing the distance between the gear 40 and the piston rod 31 of the piston 30, in order to facilitate the reciprocating movement of the piston rod 31 of the piston 30 by the motor 50 and to prevent the vibrations and the noises from being generated by the piston and the piston rod.

Accordingly, the air compressor in accordance with the present invention includes a stabilized structure for allowing the piston and the gearing mechanism to be effectively rotated or driven by the motor and for preventing vibrations from being generated by the piston and the piston rod.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

1. An air compressor comprising: a supporting base including a plate, a cylinder housing attached to said plate and including a chamber formed therein and having an inner diameter, and including an outlet tube communicating with said chamber of said cylinder housing for receiving pressurized air from said chamber of said cylinder housing, said cylinder housing including a thickness to define an outer diameter, a piston slidably received in said chamber of said cylinder housing and having a piston rod extended therefrom, a gear rotatably attached to said plate, and including an eccentric pin coupled to said piston rod, to move said piston relative to said cylinder housing, and said gear being extended into a range of said outer diameter of said cylinder housing for decreasing a distance between said gear and said piston rod and to facilitate a reciprocating movement of said piston relative to said cylinder housing, and to prevent vibrations from being generated by said piston, and a motor attached to said plate and having a spindle extended through said plate and coupled to said gear for rotating said gear to move said piston relative to said cylinder housing in the reciprocating action, in order to generate pressurized air.
 2. The air compressor as claimed in claim 1, wherein an eccentric member is attached to said gear, and said eccentric pin is extended from said eccentric member.
 3. The air compressor as claimed in claim 2, wherein said plate includes a space formed by a peripheral casing to receive said eccentric member.
 4. The air compressor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said gear is selectively extendible into a range of said inner diameter of said cylinder housing for decreasing the distance between said gear and said piston rod. 